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5 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.) Y

J. BUGKNBR.

APPARATUS POR MANUFACTURING ICE.

No.-485,149. Patented Oct. 25, 1892.

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, J. BUCKNER. APPARATUS POR MANUFACTURING ICB.

110.485.149. Patented Oct. 25. 1892.

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5 Sheets-Sheet 3.

Patented` Oct. 2 5

J. BUCKNBR.

APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING ICB.

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(No Model.)

5 Sheets-Sheet 4.

(No Model.)

J. BUGKNBR. APPARATUS POR MANUFACTURING ICB.

No. 485,149. Patented Oct. 25, 1892.

in Hummm 5 Sheets-Sheet 5.

(No Model.)

J. BUOKNER.

APPARATUS FUR MANUFACTURING 1GB.

Patented Oot. 25, 1892.

l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

` JAMES BUCKNER, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO GEORGE W. HOLLIS, OF SAME PLACE.

APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING ICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 485,149, dated October 25, 1892.

Application filed .Tuly 25, 1889. Serial No. 818,657. (No model.) n

T @ZZ wwm it. may concern: The ice-chamber referred to has extended Be it knoWn that I, JAMES BUCKNER, of through it circulating-pipes connected to the Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachu- Water-jacket of the air-compressing cylinder setts, have invented an Improvement in Apof the cold-air engine and to suitable tanks 5 paratus for Manufacturing Ice, of which the or reservoirs, from one of which the water is following description, in connection with the drawn bya suitable pump and forced through accompanying drawings, is a specification, the water-jacket into the other of the said like letters on the drawings representing like tanks, whereby the cold in the refrigeratingparts. room is utilized in cooling the water employed 6o 1o This invention has for its object to provide to absorb the heat generated by compressing a novel refrigerating apparatus for the manthe air in the compressingcylinder. The cirufacture of ice by means of artificial cold, culating-pipes referred to may be provided preferably in cakes or blocks, ready for the with suitable valves, by which the water may market, my improved apparatus being esbe discharged into one tank as fast as it is pecially adapted to be used in Warm climates. drawn from the other, whereby the cooling- In accordance with my invention a chamwater may be used for substantially an iuber or room of a building, preferably the definite time. basement of the building, is provided with, The particular features in which my invenpreferably, a number of tiers of pans 'or retion consist will be pointed out in the claims 7o 2o ceptacles, each tier consisting, preferably, of a at the end of this specification.

number of independent rows of pans compris- Figure l is a longitudinal section of the ing a number of pans, which for the best reright-hand portion or end of the building prosults are detachably secured to an endless vided Witha refrigerating-chamberin accordchain or carrier. The chamber or room reance with myinvention, one Wallof thebuild- 25 ferred to, which I shall hereinafter designate ing being broken out to show the engine emas the refrigerating or ice chamber, is ployedin theproduction of the cold,the section maintained below the freezing-point of water being supposed to be taken on lineir, Fig. 2. by artificial cold, preferably produced by com- Fig. la is alongitudinal section ofthe left-hand pressing and then expanding atmospheric air portion of thebuilding,it being read in connec- 8o 3o in an engine, which may be substantially such tion with Fig. l for the purpose of the drawas shown and described in UnitedStatesPatings; Fig. 2, a top or plan view, partially ent4 to Haslam, No. 261,708, dated July 25, 1882, broken out, of the refrigerating-chamber and which engine maybelocatedwithin the buildits contained pans; Fig. 3, an end elevation, ing or adjacent thereto. Each pan or recepon an enlarged scale, partially broken out, of tacle is filled with water, which Will preferthe refrigerating-chamber to more clearly ably be distilled, and after being frozen, which show the arrangement of pans; Fig. 4, an entakes about twelve hours, more or less, each larged sectional detail of one` pan, showing pan is carried in turn toward one end of the manner of attaching it to its endless chain, Y the refrigerating-chamber and discharged the section being supposed to be taken on 9o 4o into a receiving-chamber, preferably containline 0c so, Fig. 5; Fig. 5, a top or plan view of ing a bath of warm water, into which the pan Fig. 4.: Fig. 6,an end view looking toward the and its contained cakeof ice are immersed to left of Fig. 5; Fig. 7, a modification to be reloosen the ice from the pan. The pan with ferred to, and Fig. 8 a detail to be referred to. the ice yet remaining therein is taken from Referring to Figs. l and l, A represent-s a the bath and carried by an elevator or otherhouse or building, which may be of any usual wise into the store-room of the building, prefconstruction suitable for the purpose. The erably the room above the refrigerating-room. building A is provided with a door a, forming The cake or block of ice is detached from its below ita chamber a. and a second chamber pan and the latter carried t0 the refrigera?, separated from the chamber a by a vertiroo 5o ating-room and again attached to an endless cal partition or wall a3. The chambers a a2 carrier and filled with water to be frozen. preferablyform the basement of thebuilding A, and the floor a and wall a3 are preferably made non-heat conducting in any usual or Well-known manner. The chamber a forms the cold-room of the building, or what I shall hereinafter designate as the refrigerating or ice chamber. The ice-chamber ct is provided in accordance with my -invention with a series of horizontal shafts h2 b3, supported by uprights b4 b5, located near opposite ends of the said chamber, the said shafts having mounted on them suitable Wheels or pulleys b b', about which are passed a carrier, preferably and herein shown as endless chains a5, to which pans or receptacles a4 are detachably secured. The shafts b2 at oneend of the ice-chamber are arranged, as shown in Figs.

l and 3, vertically over each other. The uprights b4 b5 have secured to them ledges 5657, preferably made as angle-irons, constituting tracks, upon which run Wheelsbs, carrying the pans a4. Each pan a4 is detachably secured to the endless chain or carrier a5, preferably by means of arms blo, secured to the front end of the pan and made of sufficient length to pass down by the endless chain or carrier a5, so as to embrace the same, the said arms be- -ing firmly secured tothe said carrier, as shown in Figs. t and 5, by a pin c; but instead of the particular manner described for securing the pan to the endless carrier it may be secured in any other well-known or equivalent manner down through a link of the chain a5. (See Fig. 7.) The pans 0,4 have secured to their sides angle-irons c3, provided with a stud or arbor c4, upon which the Wheel b? is mounted.

To prevent the endless carrier from sagging to any considerable distance below the carrying-wheels, I have provided a guard, (shown as atrough-shaped bar 05,) to which are secured rods Vc6 c7, fastened to the uprights b4 b5.

As shown 'in Fig. 2, the chamber a is provided with ten rows of pans, and each 'row is made up of three tiers or lines of pans. The rows of pans referred to will preferably be made of unequal length, substantially as shown in Fig. l, to enable each line of pans to be more easily filled with water.

The shafts b2 are provided with loose gears d d (Z2, respectively, (see Fig. 3,) adapted to be engaged with the said shafts by clutch mechanisms d3 0l4 d5 of any usual construction. The gear d on the shaft b2 is firmly secured to the hub of a beveled gear-wheel d6,in mesh with a pinion (Z7 on a shaft or arbor d8, adapted to be engaged by a key of ordinary const-ruction, by which the said shaft may be turned to drive the beveled gear-wheel d6 and produce rotation of the gears d d2, forapurpose as will be described.

The chamber a has located in it, preferably, a series of branch pipes c5", (see Figs. 1a and 2,) provided with openings 060 and connected to a main pipe c7, extended across the room near its front end,'as herein shown, and connected by a pipe es (see Fig. l) to the disas, for instance, bya rod c2, extended charge-orifice of an expansion-cylinder c9 of a cold-air engine, which may be located within the building or in a room adjacent thereto.

The cold-air engine, which may be substantially such as shown in the patent referred to, comprises, essentially, an air-compressing cylinder provided with a water-jacket c1", a condenser cl2, into which the compressed air from the coi'npressing-cylinder is admitted by the pipe cl3, and a collector 014, connected to the condenser and the air-expanding cylinder' o9, in which the compressed air is permitted to expand, the work done in the expansion of the air in the cylinder e9 reducing the temperature of the said air to a'substantially-low degree, which may be controlled by governing the speed of the engine.

In practice the speed of the engine will be maintained at such point as to reduce the temperature of the air below the freezing-point of water. The air expanded in the cylinder c" is forced from said cylinder into the refrigerating-room a through the main pipe C and branch pipe C50, and after performing its work is returned by the pipe c16 (see Fig. 2) to the air-compressing cylinder.

The wall a3 is preferably provided with a series of openings or doors (see dotted lines, Fig. l) substantially opposite each row of pans, and on the opposite side of the wall a3, within the chamber a2, I have provided an elevator also, normally maintained in its upper position by counterbalancing-Weights e140, attached to cords or ropes d50, passed about pulleys elfo, secured near the top of the chamber a2 to suit-- able uprights 017. v

In the operation of myimproved apparatus each pan in its turn is secured to its endless carrier at the receiving or loading end of the chamber a', which is herein shown as the lefthand end of the said chamber, looking at Fig. la. The pans of the lower row are attached to the carrier, and each pan in turn is filled with water, which will preferably be distilled water, in order to obtain as pure ice as possible, and after a pan has been attached vto its chain the latter is moved forward sufficiently to enable a second pan to be attached to the carrier. In this way all the pans are attached to the lowermost carrier before -a pan is attached to the second row of carriers, and so on.

In order that each pan may be filled with water without splashing or occasioning loss of water, a suitable supply-chamber e maybe provided, it being shown as a box provided `with a bottom having perforations e', which are normally covered by a valve e?, (shown as a hinged fiap-valve,) which is adapted to be raised by means of a crank e3, attached to a handle e4, a valve e5 in the inlet-pipe being closed before the hinged valve e2 is raised. The pans filled with Water are permitted to remain in the refrigerating-room until the water has been frozen into a solid cake of ice, which may take about twelve hours, more or less. After the ice has been formed in pans each pau near the discharge end of the room IOO IIO

less carrier will be made to travel.

a is removed in its turn, the endless carriers being rotated to bring the said pans in their turn toward the discharge end of the room.

In practice the uppermost row of pans may be detached from their carriers by Workmen stationed at the discharge end of the chamber d and passed through the doors or openings in the wall t3 and placed upon an ele vator dgl), the weight of the pans overcoming the counterbalancing-Weight (Zw and causing the elevator to descend. When the elevator has reached the bottom of the chamber a2, a pan may be taken therefrom and slid into a bath f, containing warm water; orthe said elevator may be tipped or canted when it strikes the bottom of the room a2, so as to automatically discharge the pan into the bath. The warm water in the bathloosens the block of ice from its pan, and the pan still containing the block of ice is taken from the bath and carried into the store-room, which, for instance, may be the room f above the chamber ctwhere the cake of ice is removed from the pan, the latter being then taken backinto the room et and again placed upon its carrier.

When it is desired to discharge the top row of pans without moving the remaining rows, the clutch d3 is engaged with its gear d, while the clutch d4 is disengaged from its gear d', so that when the pinion b4 is rotated the gears d d will be rotated and the uppermost end After the pans have been detached from the uppermost rowr of endless carriers the pans attached to the next lower endless carrier may be fed forward independently of the others by disengaging all the clutches from their shafts, and thereafter the pans attached to the bottom or lowermost endless carrier may then be fed forward by engaging the clutch d5 with its gear d2. The endless carriers may be supported between the pulleys or wheels b b' by auxiliary wheels or friction-rollers f5, supported by uprights f6.

By the arrangement of gears and clutches as described it will be noticed that the travel of the endless carriers may be controlled by one workman operating the key employed to rotate the shaft d8. The water-jacket 010 of the air-compressing cylinder has its inlet-port connected, as shown by pipe g, to the discharge-orifice of a pump g' of any usual or well-known construction. The pump g has connected to its inlet-orifice a pipe g2, preferably extended, as shown in Fig. 2, around the sides of the chamber ct and having its end communicating with a tank or reservoir g3, preferably located in the chamber a2. The outlet-orifice of the Water-jacket C10 has connected to it a pipe g4, extended ,about the room a', substantially side by side with the pipe g2, and the pipe g4 communicates' with a second tank or reservoir g5, located, as herein, on the opposite sideof the chamber a2. The pipe g4 is provided, as herein shown, with a cock or valve g6 and with a branch pipe gl, communicating with the tank g3 and provided with a cock or valve g8. The pipe g2 is provided with a cock Q9 and is connected to the tank g5 by a branch pipe gw, provided with a cock Q12.

The pump g may be drivenin any suitable manner, and in operation it draws water from one tank and forces it into the other. For instance, let it be supposed that the tank g3 is full of water or other Iiuid and the tank g5 substantially empty. The cocks g9 g6 are opened and the cocks gS g12 closed. The wa` ter is now drawn by the pump g` through the pipe g2 and forced through the pipe g, water.- jacket 010, and pipe ginto theA tank g5. As the waterpasses through the ice-chamber it is cooled to a substantially-low degree, so that when it passes through the jacket 010 it absorbs a maximum amount of heat from the compressed air, and thereby renders the engine more effective for mking ice. The Water heated in its passage through the water-jacket c10 is cooled again in its passage through the pipe g4 and discharged into the tank g5. After the water in the tank g3 has been exhausted therefrom and discharged into the tank g5 the cocks gi g6 are closed and the cocks g8 g12 opened, and the pump exhausts the Water from the tank g5 through the pipes g10 g2 and forces it through the pipe g, water-jacket cw, pipe g4, and branch pipe g7 into the tank g3. It will thus be seen that the circulating-Water is used over and over again and that the cold in the ice-chamber is utilized not only for making ice, but also for cooling the water circulating through the waterjacket, thereby more effectually absorbing heat from the compressed air.

I have specifically described my improved apparatus as employed in the manufacture of ice, but it is evident it may be used for congealing any other fluid.

I claiml. In an apparatus for the manufacture of ice, the combination, with a building provided with a refrigeratingroom a and a chamber a2, separated therefrom by a Wall a3, provided with doors or openings, and a bath in the room c?, of a cold-air engine connected to said refrigerating-room, a carrier in said room, and a plurality of pans or receptacles to contain water, secured to said carrier, substantially as described.

2. In an apparatus for the manufacture of ice, the combination, with a building provided with a refrigerating-room a', and a receivingchamber 0,2, separated therefrom by a wall a3, provided with doors or openings, and a bath in the room a2, of a cold-air engine connected to said refrigerating-room, a tier of Vendless carriers in said room, a plurality of independent pans or receptacles to contain water, secured to said carriers, and an elevator in the chamber a2, adjacent to the separating-wall, substantially as described.

3. In an apparatus for the manufacture of ice, the combination, with a building provided with a refrigerating-room ct and a receiving- IOO IIO

fr Y 485,149

chamber ce2, separated therefrom by a Wall a3, provided with doors or openings, and a bath in the room 0,2, of a cold-airengine connected to said 1'efrigerating-room, shafts b2 b3, arranged one above the other and supported upon uprights in the refrigeratingroom, wheels mounted on said shafts, a series of par a11e1 endless carriers passed about said Whee1s of each tier, the upper surface of said carriers being opposite the openings in the .wa11 CL3, and a p1nra1itr of pans or receptacles to contain Water, detachab1y connected to said ear riers, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a co1d-air engine comprising` an air-compressing ey1inder having a Water-jacket and an air-expanding cylinder, and a cold-air outlet-pipe leading from the said expanding-cy1inder into a refrigerat- 

